Cotton opener or picker



Dec. 26, 1933. J. Moss COTTON OPENER OR PICKER Filed March 25, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet l Vkmq 9 WWW J. MOSS COTTON OPENER OR PICKER Dec. 26, 1933.

Filed March 25, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 26, 1933. J. MOSS COTTON OPENER on PICKER Filed March 25, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet Patented Dec. 26,1933 1 V i i UNITED TA S PATENT o FicE 1,941,104 oo'rToN OPENER on PICKEB- Joseph Moss, Woonsocket, R. 1., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Whitin 'Machine' Works, Whitinsville, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts I Application March 25, 1929. Serial No. 349,697

17 Claims. (01. iii-89) The invention has relation to the cotton prethat shown in Fig. 1, is collected upon its exteriorparing machines which are known as openers or in the form of a lap; and also so that the lap in pickers. sheet form leaving'said exterior passes between a The main object of the invention is the profeed-roll 2 and evener pedals 3 by which it is pre-' duction of as perfect a lap as possible, namely sented to the action of the revolving heater 4 one in the case ofwhich the sheet of fibrous m'adriven by its shaft 400 in the beater-chamber 5; terial shall be of a strengthample to stand hanthe said feed-roll and evener-pedals coacting to dling, and shall be uniform in weight at all points feed the lap in usual manner to the said revolving in its whole width, and also of equal weight, yard beater. 1 r r 10. for yard, in the direction of its length, so that This preliminary condenser cage ispreferably the total Weight of the lap shall be proportioned of small diameter, as for example of about 12 to the yardage. It is understood in the art that inches in diameter, with only one-half of its the nearer the approach to uniformity in weight surface exposed to the cotton from the primary throughout all portions of a lap the better the feed devices, in order that the cotton willen- 15; lap for the carding process, while thejgreater the tirely cover this surface without leaving any strength the less the trouble through breakdown exposed portions of the screen for the air torush; and splitting of the laps in subsequent treatment. through, with accompanying diminution of the Other objects are indicated hereinaften pressure elsewhere on the cage, andconsequent Characteristic features ofthe invention comloss of the desired action of the air in aerating 20 prise a preliminary condenser-cage constituting and removing dust from the cotton and felting an element of feeding andevening-mechanism, it into a compact and uniform lap. The action a final condenser-cage mechanism. securing cer- 'of this condenser provides a preliminary evening tain important results and advantages, a method of the stock before the cotton reaches the evener of drawing theair through the condenser-cages pedals.

25' which produces strongerand more uniform laps, The preliminary condenser-cage l and feed and novel adjustment-means for the cut-off plate roll 2 are located at the inner end of a feed-j which is employed in connection with the beaterpassage -6, the primary feed mechanism being at chamber and the passage leading therefrom to the the outer end of such passage. The said primary condenser-cage chamber. feed mechanism comprises in thisinstance the .301 Other features are set forth hereinafter. well-known organization consisting of a hopper '7, 8

An illustrative embodiment of the features of a horizontally-extending traveling fiber-support-' the invention is shown in the'accompanying drawing and advancing apron 8 at the bottom of the ings, in which latter,- I hopper, an upright traveling spiked'lifter apron Fig. 1 is a view in longitudinal vertical section 9 at the forward side of the hopper, a saw- 35 of a cotton-picker or opener constituting the said toothed stripper roll 10 operating to remove" exillustrative embodiment. cess material-from the spikes of lifter-apron 9-, Fig. 2 is a viewof the same character as Fig. and a doffer-roll 11 by which the fibrous material 1, but on a considerably larger scale than Fig. l, is discharged from the spiked lifter-apron and showing more particularly the beater and the thrown into the feed-passage 6.

4 preliminary condenser-cage and other parts The fibrous material which is supplied by the which are closely associated with the beater and said primary feed-mechanism at the outer end with such cage.- 1 p of feed-passage 6 is floated through such passage,

Fig. 3 is a'face view, on larger scale than Fig. toward the cage 1 and against the openwork exl, of the intermediate portion of the length of terior of such cage. by air supplied chiefly by 45 the cut-off plate which-is employed adjacent the inflow through'an opening at-12 extending across beater, and the support for the said plate, and the bottom of the passage, and partly by' leakage the adjustment-means for the said cut-off plate. inward past the top of the lifter-apron and the Fig. 4 is a digrammatic view on the order of a rolls 10, 11. v I v r side elevation of a portion of the general machine, In operation, the fibrous material moving in- 50 showing mainly certain driving arrangements. ward through feed-passageG is'drawn by suction Fig. 5 is a similar diagrammatic plan view of against the exterior of the cage 1 at the side of the machine, also showing certain driving means. the latter which is presented to the feed-passage, The preliminary condenser-cage 1 is combined so as to cause a layer of fiber to form upon such and related so that loose'cotton supplied thereto, side. "By reason of successive portions of the ,55 for example by primary feed mechanismsuch'a's periphery of the cage lbeing presented, by the continuous revolution of the said cage in a clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, in position for fibrous material to be deposited in a layer thereon, and by reason, further, of the leading portion of the said layer being continu ously wiped and thus stripped from the said periphery by the oppositely-travelling opposed surface of the feed-roll 2 as the cage revolves, the incoming fibrous material is formed into a uniform and continuous sheet or lap, which is delivered progressively from the exterior of the cage to the feed-roll 2, by which latter in coaction with evener-pedals 3 it is fed to the action of the blades of beater 4, which rotates clockwise,

as indicated in Fig. 2. p

The preferred relation of the cage 1 and feedroll 2 with respect to each other and to the feedpassage 6 is as shown, namely with the said cage mounted on its shaft 33 and above the said feedroll and in contact therewith, and with such feedroll and the coasting evener-pedals 3 practically closing below the cage the lower part of the inner end of the feed-passage. With this arrangement, the feed-roll operates to' strip the preliminary lap from the exterior of the cage, and to maintain control of the said lap' to the nip between the feed-roll and evener-pedals.

' Thereby the lap is kept intact and under control cage.

from the point at which it leaves the cage to the point at which it is engaged in the said nip.

The space between the casing at the top of feed-passage 6, and the top portion of the periphery of the cage 1, is closed against flow of air inward over the top of the cage, by means of a platel i depending from the top of the passage, and a flexible flap 15 carried by said plate and lying upon the periphery of the cage.

The usual practice heretofore in the case of condenser-cages has been to cause movement of air inward through the openwork shell of a cage, to occasion the deposition of fibrous material upon the exterior of such shell, through the action of air-withdrawing devices in connection with a flue or flues at one or both ends of such Such plan of withdrawal however, has a drawback to which referenceis made later herein, which interferes with the production of a preliminary lap having all portions of its width of equal weight.

In the case of the illustrative embodiment theflue or flues and air-withdrawing devices just referred to are dispensed with. nary condenser-cage 1, it posed to the feed-passage 6 and entered into the same, is exposed at the other side thereof to beater-chamber 5 and entered into the same, so that as air is withdrawn from the beater-chainher 5, by means of the air-withdrawing device 16 in connection with the. main condenser-cage 17 at the end of the machine at Which the final lap is formed and wound up or disposed of otherwise, flow of air takes place through the opening 12 extending across the machine and directly through the openwork shell of the preliminary condensencage, from one side thereof to the other, namely from the side thereof which is exposed to the feed-passage to theside which is entered into the beater-chamber 5 the air travelling across-the diameter of thecage and in parallel directions above and below the diameter, in a manner which is apparent roin the drawings and which may be called substantially diametrical flow. This flow of air produces the action, lready described herein, by which the fibrous material arriving through the feed-pas- The prelimibeing at one side exsage 6 is deposited upon the exterior of the openwork shell at the receiving side of cage 1, and inasmuch as the flow is equal in force in all portions of the length of the cage, and as the reasons for unequal depositing which exist in the case of cages having fiues at the ends thereof do not exist in that of the illustrative organization, I secure the formation upon the preliminary cage 1 of a sheet of lap having equal weight in all portions of its Width.

The drawback to which reference has been made in the foregoing, in the case of condensercage organizations in which the depositing action is brought about through the withdrawal of air from one or both ends of a condenser-cage consists in this, that the resulting suction acting inwardly through the openings in the shell of the cage is less forceful at those points in the length of the cage which are the more remote from the end or ends Where the flue or flues is or are located, than it is at such end-or ends, and this difference in force becomes more pronounced as the attempt is made to increase the draft. Consequently, the thickness of material collected upon the exterior of the condenser-cage is not uniform throughout all portions between one edge and the other of the accumulated lap, it being less where the suction is weakest and greater where the suction is strongest and the cotton is not uniformly aerated and conditioned. This lack of uniformity persists even in the final lap produced after the passage of the material past the beater to the main condenser-mechanism, Further, a strong draft cannot be used in the attempt to attain more complete conditioning, or to knit the stock into a strong lap, because it produces unevenness.

Therefore, preferably, in the more complete embodiment of the features of the invention, and for the attainment of my aim to produce a perfeet final lap, and with the aim of securing more perfect conditioning and uniform weight in all portions of the width of the preliminary lap, I provide in the manner which has been disclosed for causing the air-withdrawal to take place directly through the body of the openwork shell of the preliminary cage 1, substantially diamet rically from one side of said shell to the other, and throughout all portions of the lengthof the said body.

An advantage associated with the combination providing for effecting the withdrawal of air from the preliminary cage 1 by means of the air-exhausting means in connection with the main condenser-cage 17 on which the final lap is formed is the simplification of the machine secured through dispensing with a separate fan or the like for the preliminary condenser-cage, and effecting the withdrawal of air through such cage as well as the main condenser-cage 1'7 by a single air-exhausting fan or the like.

As a characteristic feature of the invention, the preliminary condenser-cage 1 is included in the combined feeding and evening mechanism, as well as the feed-roll 2, the spiked lifter-apron 9, and the horizontal advancing apron 8, so that in unison with the feed-roll and and 8 the said preliminary-cage shall be varied in speed for the purpose of compensating for vari ations in the thickness of the material passing between the said feed-r0112 andthe ,evener-pedals 3. Through such provision for varying the speed of the preliminary condenser-cage l, the rate of the turning movement of such cage is regulated to render-it commensurate with uniformthe aprons 9 and in so far as their preliminary lap to the blows.

.tained under ity of'feed-to' the'beaterr I term cage 1 an evener-cage. The cones and othermotiontransmitting' elements of the *said combined feeding and evening mechanism are indicated.

diagrammatically in -Figs.- Land 5. Evenermechanisms being old and well-known; and also the mode of operationvthereof, I have omitted from Fig." 1 the scale-lever system through which the evener-pedals controlthe shifter '18, Fig. 4, of the cone-belt-lQ, and the details of the connections are not-shown 'inJFig'. lginasmuch as the action involved in shiftingthe conebelt along the cones 20, 2l,is'well understood. 1 have merely-indicated in Fig. 4 the existence of the usual driving connections between the top cone 20 and the feed-roll 2,-including-spurgearing at 22, 23j-the'gear at 23 being fixed on the shaft of the feed-roll 2, and the existence of driving connections extending from said feedroll to the stud-supported pulley-24 geared to theshaft- 241 of the upper supporting roll of' the spiked lifter-apron 9, and'from the said shaft 241 to the shaft 25 of one of the supportingrolls ofthe horizontally extended supporting and advancing apron :8. In Figs. 4 and 5 I have indicated the existence, atthe'opposite side of the machine, of -motion-transmitting gearconnections' at 26; 2.7, 28, between feed-roll 2 and the preliminary condenser-cage 1, serving forthe actuation of said cagefrom said feedroll, the gear 28 being fixed on the shaft 33 of the cage 1. r

In operation, variations in the thickness of the preliminary lappassing between the feedroll 2 and the evener-pedals 3 operate,through the saidevener-pedals, and the cone-belt-shifting instrumentalities controlled and operated thereby, to bring about properly proportioned compensating variations in the rate of movement of the preliminary (eveneri cage 1, in addition to the customary variationsin therates of movement of the feed-roll 2, of the spiked lifterapron 9, and of the advancing apron 8. Thereby through participation of the preliminary cage 1 in the evening action, uniformity lengthwise is attained .in the preliminary or evener lap which is supplied to the feed-roll 2.

7 The feed-roll 2 and the evener-pedals 3 are associated with each other in the usual relations, joint action in feeding the beater 4 is concerned such action, in themain, is as usualin the caseof feeding organizations composed ofvthe likerelements. That is to say: vThe preliminary lap, after having been stripped from the cage 1, passes between the feed-r0112 and the evener-pedals 3, being advanced between the said, feed-rollv and the said pedals bythe revolution of the feed-roll so asto be fed progresssively to receive the blows of the blades of the beater 4. Suchblades,. as will ice-apparent, actclose to. the nip between the feed-rolland evener-pedals, upon the portion of fibrous materialthus exposed to the said The sub-organization comprising, the preliminary evener-cage 1 and the described feed-devices embracing the evener-pedals 3 has the advantage that the even and uniform supply of fibrous materialwhich is accumulated upon cage 1 in sheetlap form for the full length of the cage ismaincontrol until it is subjected to the blows of thebeater-blades. Again, by reason of the cotton being in a sheet of even and uniform thicknessas presented to the beater, the cotton does not require to be, and in practice is not, held as tightly between the feed-roll and the evenerpedals as it ordinarily hasto be when the sheet supplied to the feed-roll is uneven and bunchy; consequently, the fibers are not torn or injured by the beating'treatment.

From beater-chamber 5 the cotton-passes through a passage 29, extending tangentially with respect to the circle in which the beater-blades revolve,'to a collecting chamber 30 wherein the fibers are received upon the periphery of the openwork shell of main condenser-cage 17. The illustrative embodiment comprises a single con-' denser-cage l7, partly exposed to collecting chamber 30 and partly exposed to the suction-chamber 31 in connection with air-exhausting fan 16. The

space at one side, horizontally, of condenser-cage 17 is closed against flow of air from chamber 30 to chamber 31 at such side by a flange 32 in connection with a partition of the machine-casing;

and that at the delivery-side of the said cage is closed to the like effect by'means of a deliveryroll 34. By means of said roll 34 the lap is stripped from the periphery of the cage and delivered to the calendar-rolls 35, from which it passes to the winding apparatus comprising winding-rolls 36 by means of which the final lap is formed'into a wound lap 37. At 38 is atop feed-roll'which cooperates with stripping and feed-roll 34 in advancing the lap from main condenser-cagel'l to the calendar-rolls 35. i

As in the case of preliminary evener-cage 1, the

fiber-carrying air which is withdrawn from 001- lecting-chamber SOthrough the main condenser- 30 to the suction-chamber 31, and throughout all portions of the length of the said shell. The important reason therefor is the object of attaining uniformity of weight in all portions of the widthof the final lap.

Controlling considerations in the case of the preliminary evener-cage and' nain condenser-cage having the air drawn directly through each of them are these: The feed through is started at the feed-roll 2, with the cotton freshly aerated and conditioned, and with uniformity of weight of lap throughout the full width. In virtue of starting the feed withsuch uniformity, the stock will be depositedwith corresponding uniformity upon the main condenser-cage, producing a uniform final lap Common experience establishes that particular portions of the stockwill not deviate materially from passage along in straight lines through an opener or picker. Therefore-thecondition as to weight of the respective portions of the width of the deposit upon the main condensercage will be in close correspondence with the conditions at the feed end of the machine. Hence the effect secured through a transversely uniform feed lap is the production of a corresponding perfect final. lap. Further, because the intensity of the suction throughout the length of the evener and main cages remains uniform regardless of the strength of the draft when theairis passed through diametrically, the invention makes it possible to employ a large-capacity fan at 16 with intakes at opposite sides or its housing, and-a very strong draft, knitting the final lap into a compact, adherent, sheet having a strength hitherto unattainable.

The employment of asingle main condensercage 17 eliminatesthe production of what are It produces a lap whichis known as split laps. v advantageous for carding, by reason of the fact 7 same thickness on the chamber 5 is feed-roll and evener-pedals a free admission of plate 39 are shown in that such'dirt as arrives at the said condensercage and does not pass through the openwork thereof lies upon the exterior of such'cage and becoming covered up by the cotton and carried off thereby is at the bottom of the sheet of lap when the latter is fed to the licker-in of a-carding engine, and therefore is very readily separated from the cotton at such point in thecarding engine, because the lickerin is enabled to knockout the dirt'without-having to comb it through the whole thickness of the lap. This same segregation of thedirt occurs at the preliminary cage 1, enabling the beater to perform its work of cleaning by more of a fanning action as distinct from actual.

blows than heretofore, thus avoiding breaking the staple and injuring the cotton.

The-picker of the invention thus is characterized by'a double airing and conditioning of the cotton, i.-e., before and after the beating, the same air being passed through the cotton onthe evenercage and again on the main condenser. In this manner the double error inherent in handling improperly conditioned cotton in the pickers is done-away With-such error being that damp cotton feeds past the evener-pedals in greater volume -of fiber than dry, though both register the pedals, making it impossible to control uniformity in the wound lap either lengthwise or widthwise, while the excess or deficiency of moisture makes the wound lap either too heavy-or too light in actual measured weight. The extent of the advance is apparent from the factthat finished laps ready for carding for finer yarnscan-be produced by only two pickings, and

in certain grades of cotton by only one picking, in

machines embodying the invention, and with the total-omission of the established practice of combining a number-of laps to average the inequalities.

The dead-air chamber 11 below the beatercompletely closed by vertical walls and the curved bottom-casing 291 of the beaterchambenexcept that just below and adjacent the grid is employed as usual, with the'openings between its bars 60, 60, in communication with the dead-air chamber so that dirt, motes, &c., loosened from the cotton by the action of the beater may pass through such openings into the dead-air chamber. The admission of air into the beater-chamber at a level above the feed-roll 2, through preliminary evenercage 1, provides for ample air-supply to float the cotton Within the beater-chamber while being moved by the revolving beater-blades, and onwardthrough the tangential passage 29 toward main condenser-cage 17; which avoids flow of air inward through the openings of the grid into the beater-chamber, such as to prevent lighter particles of refuse material from dropping out between the grid-bars into the dead-air chambereven though the draft is much stronger than heretofore. This affords better provision for the discharge of dust, and the like, between the gridbars into What is truly a dead-air chamber. The

air above the feed-roll providesamply for underfiow of air at the descending side of the beater so as to overcome any tendency to withdrawal of air from the dead-air chamber. The'same general results in this connection would, be attained in case the preliminary evener-cage 1 should be omitted and a simple opening or openings for admission of air above the feed-roll be utilized.

The provisions for adjustment of the cut-01f Fig. 3. This cut-oil. plate,

plate is primarily 29. In actual practice,

applied to the top of the casing'of passage 29 so as to project somewhat into the beaterchamber over the outlet into such passage, made. adjustable so as to enable its working edge to be disposedin desiredproximity to the path-in which the beater-blades revolve, for example to compensate for shifting of the beater toward or from the-feed-roll. The cut-cit plate fits against the under side of the edgewise inclined plane '40 constituting the-main cross-girth of the machine frame. Screw-threaded studs .41 project from the top side of the cut-01f plate. These studs extend through -slots-401 in girth 40 having the length thereof at right angles-with the lower edge of the girth. The girth has attached to its top side at each slot a block '42 having. therein a parallel-sided opening'43. The opening of each block 42 isoccupied by a smaller block 44 of a length suitable for enabling it to make contact by its ends with the lateral sides of opening 43 in block 42, but sufficiently small in its other dimension to give it capability for being shifted upward ordownward therein. The said small block 44 has cally therethrough, through which extends one of the studs 41. The upper extremity of the stud, projecting above block 44, has applied thereto a nut 45. Adjustment-screws '46, 46, are fitted to threaded openings in the upper and lower transversely extending portions of each block 42, and make contact by their inner ends with the upper and lower sides of the inner block 44. The said adjustment-screws are .provided with lock-nuts 47, 47. After .lo'ck nuts 4'7, 47, and the nuts 45, '45, have been loosened, manipulation of adjustment-screws 46,46, will efiect the required adjustment of the out et? plate, either upward or downward as may be required in order to place the working edge of the cut-off plate in the'required relation to the path in which the beater-blades revolve. This adjustmentmay then be rendered fixed by tightening the nuts'4'5 and 47.

As is well known, the 'functionof the cu't-o'fi to divert through passage 29 leading to the collecting chamber and main condenser-cage 17 the airandcotton which are set in motion by the revolving beater. The vertical baffle-plate 50, Fig. 1, extending above the cut-oil plate from girth to the top of the casing of the beater-chamber, serves to deflect downward a portion of the airentering through evener-cage 1, in :a manner to' divert from the path of the beater-blades the fibers 're-' volving with such blades, and also to strip from the forward edges of such blades the fibers which tend to cling thereto. This diversion of the air-' flow downward :serves to occasion movement "of the air and fibers toward and through passage and especially in working upon longstaple cotton, a serious disadvantage is the tendency of the beater-blades to load a hole extending verti- Y up with fiber, and this is avoided inthe manner indicated.

A removable cover-plate 51 closesthe top of the beater-chamber.

The grid-bars 60, of the grid that is located above the dead-air feed-roll 2 and evener-pedals 3 and one end of the under-casing 291 of the beater-chamber 5, I

required working relations with respect 'to the. blades of beater '4.

chamber 11 intermediate the otherside of the face.

The illustrated provisions for mounting the said grid-bars in working position in the mart chine, effecting rocking adjustment thereof, ac, are described, as welhas claimed, in the divisional application filedOct. 23, 1931, Serial At 77,. Fig. 1, is shown a dust-box adjacent.

a portion '78 of. the casing of the intermediate passage or flue 29, suchportion 78 being of openwork construction to. permit dust to pass through the openings thereof intothefsaid dustboX. The said dust-box is furnished with a'door '79 which is hinged at in connection with the under-casing 291 of the beater-chamber. The normal closed position of the said .door 79 is as indicated in Fig. 1. The position of the'pivot or hinge 80 of the door is such that when the door 79 is opened or allowed to fall open it hangs nearly vertically within the dust-chamber 11, which ensures descent of the dustfrom the dustbox into the dead-air chamber upon the openv ing of the said door Without obstruction by the door.

What is claimed as the. invention is:

1. An opener or picker comprising, in combination the revolving beater thereof, a feed-roll deliveringto the action of the said beater, primary feed mechanism, and evener-mechanism operating to vary the action of the said primary feed mechanism. and feed-r011, and an evener condenser-cage receiving the material from the said primary feed'mechanism, forming'it into a preliminary evener-lap, and delivering it to the feedroll, said condenser-cage controlled as to the rate of its turning movement by the said evener-mechanism to compensate for departures of the'lap supplied to the feed-roll from the predetermined thickness. V

-2. An opener or picker comprising a revolving beater, a feed-roll delivering to the action of the said beater, primary feed mechanism, and evenermechanism including and governed by evenerpedals cooperating with said feed-roll and in accordance with such governance operating to vary the action of the said primary feed-mechanism and feed-roll, and having combined with the said elements an evener condenser-cage receiving the material from the primary feed mechanism, forming it into a preliminary evener lap, and delivering it to the feed-roll, said condenser-cage controlled as' to the rate of its turning movement by the said evener-mechanism under the governance of the evener-pedals, to compensate for departure of the lap supplied by such cage to the feed-roll from the predetermined thickness.

3. An opener or picker comprising, in combination with primary feed mechanism, an evener condenser-cage receiving the from the primary feed mechanism and forming it into a preliminary evener-lap, a feed-roll which strips such lap from the said evener condensercage, a revolving beater to which the lap is fed by said feed-roll, and evener-mechanism combined with said evener-cage, feed-roll, and primary feed-mechanism and operating to compensate for departure of the lap supplied by such cage to the said feed-roll from the predetermined thickness by varying the action of said evener condenserdirection 'of the feed-roll and evener-pedals, and a square heel at the admitting this air the feed-roll. Y V 1 '7. An opener or plcker comprising, in combinaa material in a loose state cage in addition to that of the feed-roll and primary feed-mechanism.

4. An opener or pickercomprising, incombinaa mechanism, an evener:

tion with primary feed cage receiving the material in aloose state from the primary feed mechanism and forming'it into a preliminaryevener-lap, such lap from the said evener-cage, a beater to a ieed roll receiving which the said lap is delivered by the said feedroll, evener-mechanism controllingsaid evenercage,feed-ro1l, and primary feed mechanism and operating to compensate for departure of the lap supplied by such cage to the said'ieed-roll from the predetermined thickness by varying theaction or" said evener cage in addition to that of the ieed-rolland primary ieedmechanism, a' single main 'condens'erecage receiving the cotton which has been acted upon by the beater and forming it into a unified non-split lap, and lap-winding mechanism receiving the said lap after being formed by the said main condenser-cage. I

5. In anopener or-picker comprising arevolving beater, a beater chamber, means for causing an air flowthrough'su'ch chamber, a feed-roll delivering to the action of the said beater, and a'primary ,ieed mechanism, the combination therewith or a condenser-cage above the'ie'ed-r'oll hav-' ing an openwork shell ,through'which 'air'flows directly across the cage into the beater-chamber, said direct substantially "diametrical flow of air serving the double purpose of collecting the feed- Y material into a preliminary lap upon the exterior of the cage, and of supplying'air to th e beater-. chamber above the feed-roll."

6. An opener 'or picker comprising a revolving beater, a feed-roll delivering to the action of said beater, a dead-air chamber and gridbelow the beater-chamber, means for creating an'air-fiow propelling fiber toward the feed-roll, a'ndan inlet. to the beater-chamber above tion, a preliminary condenser c'age'upon the feed-supply forms into a preliminary lap, a feed-roll by which the said lap is fed to the action of a'revolving beater, the said beater, a beaterchamber, a collecting chamber, a main condensercage, and a single air exhausting means combined to exhaust air from the preliminary condensercage, pass such air through the beater-chamber, and then through the main condenser-cage.

8. An opener or picker comprising, in combination, a beater-chamber, a revolving beater, a feed-roll delivering to the action of the said beater, a preliminary condenser-cage above the feed-roll, upon which the feed-supply is formed into a preliminary lap, the said condenser-cage having an openwork shell through which air flows directly across the cage into the beaterchamber, said direct substantially diametrical flow of air serving the double purpose of collecting the feed-material upon the exterior of the cage and of supplying air to the beater-chamber, amain condenser-cage to which air and fibrous material pass from the beater-chamber, and means for exhausting air substantially diametrically through the main condenser-cage.

9.,In an opener or picker, having in combination a beater-chamber, a beater therein havand" a cut-offplate mountedat'the' under side of the girth and having, studs extending up through the said slots; blocks: upon' the said studs above the girth, .block guides'upon the girth, and opposite adjustment screws engaging with the studs at opposite sides of the latter forshifting the cut-off plate inward and outward withrelation to the path in which the beater-blades revolve;

10;,An opener or picker having. in combination a feed-roll, a beater-chamber, a revolving beater. having blades,a lap-forming condenser, and a passage connecting the beater-chamber and'the condenser, andhaving at'the feed-receiving side of the beater-chamber an air-supplyinl'et' above the feed-roll, and having at the outlet side of said chamber an upright baffle-plate extending down to the upper side of the mouth of. the passage leading to the lap-forming condenser, said baffle-plate operating to deflect downward a portion of the air entering through the said inlet in a manner to divert from the path of I the beater-blades fibers revolving with such blades and also to strip from the. forward. edges of the blades the fibers whicht'end to cling thereto, as well as occasion movement of air and fibers toward and through the outlet.

11'. An opener or picker comprising, in combinations, apreliminary condenser-cage upon which the unbeaten feed-supply forms into a preliminary lap, a feed-rollby which the said lap is fed .to the action of a; revolving beater, the said beater, a beater-chamber, a main condensercage, and a single air exhausting means combined to exhaust air substantially diametrically from both of said condenser-cages. and from the beater chamber.

12. An opener or picker comprising, in combination, a preliminary condenser-cage. upon which the unbeaten feed-supply formsinto a preliminary lap, a feed-roll by which the said lap is fed to the action of a revolving beater; the said beater; a" beater chainber; a main condensercage; and a single air exhausting means combined'to'draw air into themachine ahead of the preliminary condenser cage and lengthwise through the machine through both of said condenser cagesrand the beater-chamber. 7

13. Apicker having incombination a beaterch'tmb'er; a' revolving beater, primary feed mechanism; air-exhausting means, and a condenser cage preceding'the beaterion which the material received item the primary feed mechanism is formed into a'- lap through: the action of an air.- fiow induced by exhausting air from the-beater-. chamber.

14. A" picker having in combination fiberfeeding and beating devices, a condenser-cage on whichthe fibers are formed into a lap by air cur rents'passing; through the cage and across its int'erior'at right angles to its axis, and means beyond the cage'inducing air-flow therethrough.

15. A picker having in combination fiberfeeding and beating devices, air-propelling means, and a condenser-cage on which alone and unaided the fibers are formed into a lap by aircurrents which enter at the surface of the cage, 10g traverse its interior, and emerge again through the surface of thecage.

16: A picker having in combination fiberfeeding and beating devices, air-propelling means, and a condenser cage following the beat- 195 ing devices, on which the fibers are gathered into an integral completed lap of sufficient uniformity to feed a card by air currents which enter at the surface of the cage, traverse its interior, and emerge again through the surface of the cage.

17. In a cotton opener or picker, in combination, a beater, a condenser before and a condenser beyond the beater, and means for passing a single fiber-conveying air-stream in series'through the plurality of condensers.

' JOSEPH MOSS. I 

